Two US sailors in Iraq single-handedly fought off 20 ISIS fighters and protected their fellow troops at the same time from oncoming fire.

Christopher Greene and Travis Holland, both explosive ordnance disposal technicians based in California, led a nighttime raid on a remote underground ISIS hideout in the Anbar province. Both were awarded the Bronze Star, Military.com reported.

The raid took place on September 18, 2018. US sailors Greene and Holland were deployed to Iraq and assigned to the Special Operations Task Force-West. The unit traveled by helicopter to the ISIS headquarters hideout.

Greene led the team in, clearing the cave complex of explosive threats. However, in the process, the unit was met by 15 to 20 ISIS fighters who had barricaded themselves inside.

As his award stated, “Without hesitation, [Greene] deliberately stepped in the line of fire at a critical time to shield his teammates from close range automatic weapon fire.”

At the same time, Holland saw two terrorists preparing grenades to throw and protected the troops from the blast.

He “positioned himself in the open to shield his team from a potentially fatal blast, while also engaging the enemy combatants who were only three meters away,” Holland’s award citation states. “With disregard for his own safety, he repeatedly maneuvered directly in the line of enemy fire to shield his team.”

In related news, eight elite British troops in Afghanistan fought off over 100 ISIS fighters in a six-hour battle to save an Afghani family, the Daily Star reported. A Special Boat Service (SBS) patrol team went to aid a family whose car was blown up by a homemade bomb.

However, after seeing that one adult had been killed and a young girl injured, the troops refused to abandon the family.

They were attacked by ISIS terrorists and had to withdraw to an abandoned compound. After six hours of fighting they managed to successfully beat back the jihadi troops.

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The Clarion Project (formerly Clarion Fund) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to educating both policy makers and the public about the growing phenomenon of Islamic and other forms of extremism. The Clarion Project is committed to working towards safeguarding human rights for all peoples.